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Xref: sserve comp.unix.admin:9493 comp.unix.bsd:11593 comp.unix.questions:31794 Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin,comp.unix.bsd,comp.unix.questions Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!haven.umd.edu!decuac!darryl From: darryl@sousa (Darryl Wagoner) Subject: Re: help!! tar misuse ate my harddisc?? Message-ID: <1993Mar3.041124.9340@decuac.dec.com> Sender: news@decuac.dec.com (USENET News System) Nntp-Posting-Host: dsnine.dco.dec.com Reply-To: darryl@sai.com Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Washington ULTRIX Resource Center X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5 References: <1993Mar2.225448.143@ohsu.edu> Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1993 04:11:24 GMT Lines: 31 Milton Hill (hillm@ohsu.edu) wrote: : WHAT I DID- : I wanted to backup my directory onto another local drive (/dev/sd3c). : I issued the command - rainbow# tar -cvf /dev/sd3c /home/rainbow/milt. : I remembered that I had a linked directory from dev/sd3c back to : /home/rainbow/milt. (@$%@$#%!!!) Oh boy!!!!!!!!!! tar -cvf /dev/sd3c anything will write a tar file all over the hard disk in question! Not good! Negative Out Come!!! Do you mean a link or do you have /dev/sd3c mounted on /home/rainbow/milt ? If /home/rainbow/milt was indeed a link and a directory tar should have failed. : WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW- : 1. Can I salvage the data on the disc? Not likely! And unless it is something VERY special it would be just as easy to get it from backups or recreate it. You do have backups, don't you? Some or all of the data will have been wiped out by tar. : 2. What did I do wrong? Never every tar to a disk device! Second never every assume that Unix will protect you from doing something stupid as root. Root is GOD and Unix will obey any command root gives it usally without question. -darryl